


Philosophy and the Emperor

by stardreamer



Category: The Goblin Emperor - Katherine Addison
Genre: Gen, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-24
Updated: 2015-02-24
Packaged: 2018-03-14 21:32:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3426308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stardreamer/pseuds/stardreamer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Maia's memories of the interview with the bomb-maker are still bothering him. Cala has some advice.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Philosophy and the Emperor

**Author's Note:**

> This scene happens on the day of the executions, after everything is over.

The executions were public and horrible, and it was not possible for the emperor to avoid personally overseeing them although he would have greatly preferred to stay away, and he knew he was going to have nightmares. Maia could not face the prospect of dinner with the court afterwards; he had a sick headache in truth, and fled - not actually running only by force of will - back to the Alcethmeret. He spent a long time in the bath, trying to wash away the feeling of defilement from having had to participate in such a spectacle, with only limited success. 

Eventually he emerged, allowed his edocharei to dress him but flatly refused any jewelry, and descended to brood over his solitary dinner. The kitchen master had provided a selection of dishes which would be tasty and yet light on an uneasy stomach. He might as well not have bothered, as the day's horrors replayed over and over in Maia's imagination and everything tasted of dust and ashes. Worse yet, the words of Shulivar were echoing through his head, and that was an entirely different kind of horror. His ears kept dipping in dismay no matter how hard he tried to keep them up, even though there were only his nohecharei and little Isheian the server to see. 

"Serenity?" Cala sounded unusually diffident. "You seem troubled." It was, once again, a veiled offer of assistance. 

_Thou canst not be my friend,_ Maia thought. And then, _But perhaps thou couldst be an adviser?_ He had, after all, taken advice from his nohecharei before. "We cannot stop thinking about what Mer Shulivar said," he admitted. "It casts a sour pall over many of our actions, both past and contemplated." 

"In what way?" Cala asked. 

"He spoke as if he knew us," Maia replied, "and treated that as a justification for what he had done. It was not a justification - we _know_ that it cannot have been - but we also cannot help thinking that he was right, everything he said about us was right, and it feels like being in a trap. We may never be able to make another decision without wondering if it is something he would have wanted, and if so, then whether we should do something else." 

Cala thought about that for a few seconds. "This is a philosophical question," he said. "We have had some training in the area of philosophy; may we offer another perspective?" 

"Please do. We are badly in need of such." Maia prepared to listen to Cala as he had been listening to Lord Berenar, as a student listens to a tutor. He was aware of Isheian lurking in the corner near the servants' door, listening intently as well. 

"His thinking was fallacious," Cala said. "To begin with, it was a version of 'the end justifies the means', and there is no legitimate school of thought which accepts that argument, for once started there is no end to it. But there is more to it than that." 

"How so?" 

"Consider, Serenity. Mer Shulivar knew _nothing_ about you, save that the late emperor your father kept you away from court. How, then, would he have had any way to evaluate your character at all? He was projecting his own disagreements with your father onto the image of you in his head, and assuming that you shared them, or would come to share them." 

"And he was _right_ ," Maia said. "This does not comfort us." 

Cala nodded. "There is a difference, however, between being right about something of your own knowledge, and being right only by accident. Do you agree that this is significant?" 

"Yes." Maia hid a wince; he had been right-by-accident about too many things already for that to be a pleasant thought. 

"Because he had no way to know you, Mer Shulivar was _gambling_. Whether he was gambling that his fantasy image of you was accurate, or merely that anything would be an improvement over Varenechibel the Fourth, is irrelevant. He was still gambling - with the lives of every person aboard the _Wisdom of Choharo_ , not to mention the entire future and stability of the empire, as the stake. His intention was to cause chaos, in the belief that something better would eventually result. It was a horrible and morally bankrupt thing to do; it was completely indefensible by any frame of logic or reason. The fact that he got a result which _he_ counted as a success does not make it any less so, and is _not_ in any way a justification." 

Maia considered this, and nodded slowly. "The point is well taken. But-" 

"Furthermore," Cala continued firmly, "no guilt attaches to you for the accident of being the kind of emperor he was hoping for, any more than the Prince Orchenis bears any guilt due to his wedding being the unwitting opportunity for Mer Shulivar to implement his plot." 

That was a shrewd point, and Maia acknowledged it with a half-smile. He had taken pains to reassure Orchenis that he was not personally to blame for the tragedy that had claimed Varenechibel and his other sons; now Cala was telling him that the same logic applied to himself. 

"And finally," Cala said, "it would be a great mistake to let the thought of what Mer Shulivar would or would not have wanted influence your future behavior in any way, because to do so would give him control of you from beyond the grave. He is gone; relegate him to the history books and continue forward without reference to him, doing what _you_ think is best to do. That way you will be doing your best for your subjects and for the Ethuveraz as well." 

Even Beshelar looked impressed by that. "We agree," he said. "You have not done badly so far, that we can see. It would be a shame to let yourself be second-guessed by the words of a traitor." 

Maia had to fight back a smile. _Will wonders never cease?_ He could find no argument with Cala's analysis either. And he was clearly going to have to ask Csevet to get him a philosophy text or two. "We thank you," he said. 

With the weight of confusion and quasi-guilt lifted from his shoulders, Maia found himself able to eat the remainder of his meal with a better appetite. He would probably still have nightmares, but at least they would _only_ be about the executions themselves. _Be grateful for small favors,_ said that sardonic inner voice. He supposed that this was the inevitable lot of an emperor, to have to worry even about the quality of his nightmares. 

And in the morning, he would take the next step on the long journey ahead, without looking back.

**Author's Note:**

> The scene with Shulivar smacked me right in the gut. I have the experience and knowledge to think my way out of that sort of trap, but Maia clearly does not, and it's the sort of thing that can fester if someone doesn't show him how to deal with it. Cala seemed like the most likely candidate to have that training. The Arch-Prelate probably does as well, but Maia would never have confided in him about something like this.


End file.
